To the Moon and Back

Chapter 45




‘Your boyfriend’s waiting outside.’

Was there a particular reason for Zack looking ever so slightly pissed off about it? Ellie checked her watch: three minutes to five.

‘He asked me what time I’d be finishing work. It’s OK if he meets me here, isn’t it?’ She heard herself sounding defensive; Zack hadn’t been in the sunniest of moods recently. ‘Is there anything else you need me to do, or can I go?’

He shot her a look of impatience mixed with a hint of an eye roll. In retaliation Ellie shut down her computer and pushed back her chair.

‘Right, well, I’ll be off then. See you tomorrow. Have a nice night!’ She flashed him an extra-bright smile to cover up for the fact that having to sidle past him in order to reach the door was having its habitual heart-galloping effect.

Evidently bored now, Zack turned his attention to the calendar on the wall as she left. ‘You too.’

Outside, Joe held out his arms and gave Ellie a huge hug.

‘I’ve been waiting for ages.’

‘I know. Zack said you were out here.’

‘I saw him at the upstairs window. Thought he might have invited me in.’

Overhead the sky was leaden and it was spitting with rain. Slightly embarrassed that Zack hadn’t asked him inside, Ellie said, ‘Sorry, he’s been a bit funny lately.’

‘Speaking of funny. There’s something I have to tell you.’

‘Oh God, is it my hair?’ She knew she shouldn’t have cut her bangs last night. Ellie’s hands went up to tug at the ends. ‘Is it crooked?’

Joe shook his head. ‘It’s not your hair. Listen, this is pretty major.’

Where was this going? Ellie couldn’t imagine. ‘Major good or major bad?’

‘Major good.’ He gazed at her in his beaky, intense way. ‘Well, I think so.’

It was raining properly now. They were standing on the pavement outside Zack’s house, getting wet. Was Zack still there, in his picky mood, watching them and wondering what was going on?

‘Come on, let’s get home.’ Ellie began to walk up the road. ‘Tell me on the way.’

‘OK.’ Joe loped alongside her, his arm around her shoulders, his baggy khaki jacket flapping at his side. ‘Here goes. I’ve just had a call from Stephen in LA.’

Stephen was the agent they’d signed with at the agency in LA. ‘And?’

‘Mac Zeller’s been in touch.’

‘Right,’ said Ellie. Mac Zeller was the producer-director who had bought his and Kaye’s film script.

‘He wants us to work exclusively with him on a new screenplay…’

‘Wow, fantastic!’

‘…And he’s also produced a sitcom that’s breaking all records in its first series in the States. The Afternooners. It’s set to be bigger and better than Friends.’ The words were tumbling out now. ‘And Mac wants us to join the writing team. Me and Kaye! It’s just unbelievable. I could hardly breathe when Stephen told me… to think he has that much faith in us…’ Joe stopped walking and gripped her hands, his silver-rimmed glasses speckled with rain.

‘That’s great.’ Ellie reached up and wiped them clean, so he could see. ‘It’ll mean going back out there for a bit.’

‘More than that.’ Joe’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. ‘It means going out there for a while. Six months, minimum. A couple of years, preferably. It’s just not something we can do from over here. We have to move to LA.’ His hands were trembling. ‘Ellie, he’s made us an offer we can’t refuse. It’s the chance of a lifetime. There’s no way we can turn it down.’

He was searching her face for a reaction. Ellie hugged him. ‘Of course you can’t! Move to LA and work with Mac Zeller? It’s amazing. And you deserve it.’

Joe pulled back, his own expression unreadable. ‘Seriously?’

‘God, yes!’ Why wouldn’t she mean it?

‘OK, here’s the thing. I was kind of hoping you might be a bit more upset, so that I could say, “And I want you to come with me.”’

‘Oh.’

His crooked smile flickered like a lightbulb struggling not to go out. ‘Well? How would you feel about that?’

Fifty yards away, in his first-floor living room, Zack watched from the window as Ellie and Joe stood and faced each other, oblivious to the increasing rain. He’d have a better view if he flung the window wide open and leaned out, or if he happened to have a handy periscope, like the ones he’d bought his nephews last Christmas so they could spy round corners.

But that wasn’t really on. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but Ellie had just hugged Joe and he was now stroking her cheek. She was smiling up at him. Zack turned away, slightly despising himself. As he did so, his phone rang in his pocket.

Taking it out, he saw the caller’s name. Meg.

***

Back at Nevis Street, Ellie took off her wet jacket and put the kettle on, prevaricating while she worked out what to say.

But Joe wasn’t stupid. He already knew.

‘So you’re not tempted?’

She turned to look at him. ‘I can’t, sorry, no.’

‘That’s a real shame. I have to go,’ said Joe. ‘You do understand that, don’t you?’

Ellie nodded. ‘I do.’

‘I’ll really miss you.’

‘I’ll miss you too.’

‘But not as much.’ The lopsided smile was back. ‘Otherwise you’d come along.’

OK, here goes. ‘Joe, the last few weeks have been brilliant. We’ve had a fantastic time.’

He spoke with rueful resignation. ‘That means you really aren’t going to change your mind.’

‘You wouldn’t want me to. Listen, can we be honest with each other? Marks out of ten for how you feel about me.’ Ellie held up her hands. ‘And don’t say ten. You have to be completely honest.’

Joe raked his fingers through his damp hair. ‘Nine. OK, not nine. Eight and a half. But that’s good, that’s really good.’

‘Thank you. Now it’s my turn.’ Ellie had been going to say eight. To be kind she said, ‘You’re an eight and a half too.’

‘They sound like pretty high marks to me.’

‘They are. But not high enough. If you’re planning to live with someone, it has to be tens all the way.’

His eyebrows went up. ‘You told me not to say ten.’

‘Because it wouldn’t have been true.’ Ellie reached for his hands. ‘But you’ve given me my confidence back, and that’s the best present in the world. Thanks to you, I know I can feel normal again, do all the stuff that normal people do, have sex and enjoy it.’

Joe said gravely, ‘It’s a special talent of mine. I’ve always been excellent at sex.’

Everything was going to be OK. She felt herself relax. ‘You’re great in bed. And out of it.’

‘In an eight and a half out of ten kind of way.’

Ellie broke into a grin. ‘When you meet your perfect ten out of ten woman, I want you to phone me up and say, “Now I get it, now I understand. Ellie, I’m sorry. You were right and I was wrong.”’

‘Come here, you.’ Joe pulled her into a hug. ‘It’s OK, I already know you’re right. I’m just going to miss you, that’s all. We’ve had a good time, haven’t we?’

‘The best.’ She planted a fond kiss on his mouth. ‘Thank you. For everything.’

His face softened. ‘Trust me, it’s been a pleasure.’

‘For me too.’ It had stopped raining. Ellie said, ‘Come on, we have to go out and celebrate. My treat. You’re going to Hollywood!’

‘You’re feeling normal again.’

‘We’ve had a fantastic fling,’ she agreed happily.

‘And some fantastic sex,’ Joe modestly reminded her.

Ellie smiled and kissed him again. It had been good. Inside her own head, though, it hadn’t always been Joe she’d been having the fantastic sex with.

But she wouldn’t tell him that. There was no need for him to ever know.